Johnson & Johnson says it will invest more than $55 billion within the United States over the next four years, including four new manufacturing plants.
A number of companies have highlighted investments in the U.S. in recent months, a focus of Trump administration. J&J rival Eli Lilly and Co. announced in late February that it planned to build four new factories in the U.S. Both Lilly and J&J cited tax cut legislation passed in 2017 as factors in their U.S. investments.
Johnson & Johnson said Friday that it is a 25% increase in investment compared with the prior four years and estimates the U.S. economic impact will be more than $100 billion a year.
“Our increased U.S. investment begins with the ground-breaking of a high-tech facility in North Carolina that will not only add U.S.-based jobs but manufacture cutting edge medicines to treat patients in America and around the world,” Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato said in a statement.
The North Carolina plant is in Wilson, just east of Raleigh. The locations of the other three facilities were not disclosed.
Aside from building four new plants, Johnson & Johnson said that it will expand several existing sites. The company is also planning to make investments in research and development infrastructure and technology.
Johnson & Johnson's efforts are among several companies pledging to enhance their manufacturing in the U.S. Earlier this month chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said that it plans to invest $100 billion in the U.S., on top of $65 billion in investments the company had previously announced.
In February Apple announced that it plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, including plans to hire 20,000 people and build a new server factory in Texas.
Apple outlined several concrete moves in its announcement, the most significant of which is the construction of a new factory in Houston — slated to open in 2026 — that will produce servers to power Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI features.
AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed to this report.
FILE - A person walks by the Johnson & Johnson headquarters is in New Brunswick, N.J., on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
FILE - A Johnson & Johnson logo is seen in Walpole, Mass., Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, file)
FILE - A sign for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health is displayed in Flourtown, Pa., Friday, April 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
ISTANBUL (AP) — Hundreds of supporters gathered in front of an Istanbul courthouse on Saturday, where detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu faced further questioning over allegations of corruption and terror links. His arrest this week intensified political tensions and sparked widespread protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in multiple cities to voice their opposition.
Police questioned Imamoglu for around five hours on Saturday as part of an investigation into allegations of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported. A day earlier he was questioned for four hours over the corruption accusations. The mayor rejected all charges during both interrogations.
He was later transferred to a courthouse for questioning by prosecutors along with some 90 other people who were also detained with him.
The authorities barred access to the courthouse using barricades on local roads and closing nearby metro stations. Hundreds of police officers and over a dozen water cannon trucks were deployed. Still, hundreds gathered in front of the building shouting: “Rights, law, justice!”
Crowds also began to rally outside the city hall for a fourth night in a show of support to the mayor.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted on social media that 343 suspects had been detained in protests in major cities on Friday night, adding “There will be no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people’s peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation.” The cities listed included Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya and Edirne.
Imamoglu, who is a popular opposition figure and seen as a top challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on Wednesday following a dawn raid on his residence over allegations of financial crimes and links to Kurdish militants. Dozens of other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.
Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and key challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.
His arrest has ignited protests that have steadily increased in intensity.
On Friday, police in Istanbul used pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets to push back hundreds of protesters who tried to break through a barricade in front of the city’s historic aqueduct while hurling flares, stones and other objects at officers. Police also dispersed groups that had rallied outside of the city hall for a third night running, after the opposition Republican People’s Party leader, Ozgur Ozel, delivered a speech in support of the mayor.
Simultaneously, police broke up demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, as well as in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, resorting to forceful measures at times, according to television images. Thousands marched in several other cities calling on the government to resign.
Earlier, Erdogan said the government would not tolerate street protests and accused the opposition party of links to corruption and terror organizations.
The Istanbul governor's office announced it was expanding a ban on demonstrations until March 26 and imposed restrictions on the entry and exit of vehicles deemed to be transporting people “likely to participate in unlawful activities.”
Erdogan on Saturday accused the CHP’s leadership of turning the party “into an apparatus to absolve a handful of municipal robbers who have become blinded by money.”
He also accused it of “doing everything to disturb the public peace, to polarize the nation.”
Imamoglu’s arrest came just days before he was expected to be nominated as the opposition Republican People’s Party’s presidential candidate in a primary on Sunday. Ozel has said that the primary, where around 1.5 million delegates can vote, will go ahead as planned.
The opposition party has also urged citizens to participate in a symbolic election on Sunday — through improvised ballot boxes to be set up across Turkey — to show solidarity with Imamoglu.
In a tweet posted shortly before his arrival at the courthouse, Imamoglu urged the public to safeguard the ballot boxes for Sunday’s primary, “Don’t forget: they are very afraid of you and your democratic right to vote.”
In an earlier message, Imamoglu described his arrest as a “coup" and accused the government of exploiting the judiciary and worsening the country’s troubled economy.
A Protester shouts slogan during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, outside Caglayan courthouse, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Protesters shout slogans as they protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, outside Caglayan courthouse, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Policemen stand guard next to a police bus carrying Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and other arrested to Caglayan courthouse, as protesters protest against their arrest, outside Caglayan courthouse, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Protesters shout slogans as they protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, outside Caglayan courthouse, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Protesters shout slogans as they protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Protesters shout slogans during clashes with anti riot police during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Police officers use pepper spray during clashes with people as they protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A policeman uses an anti riot rifle to disperse people during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A man with the Turkish flag on his back stands in front of anti riot police officers during clashes in a rally against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Protesters run during clashes with anti riot police while protesting against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A man holds a metal board during clashes with police during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Protesters shout slogans during clashes with anti riot police during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
People light flares as they protest against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A man, a Turkish flag draped on his back, stands in front of anti riot police officers during clashes in a rally against the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
